You need to take hold of every opportunity that’s thrown at you as you go through life, you just never know what wonderful adventures it could bring you or who you’re going to meet.I was lucky eno﻿ugh to be invited to London for the Trail Team 2014 selection by Berghaus, TORQ and LED Lenser.

I already knew TORQ and Lenser and obviously knew Berghaus, but, I’ll be the first person to say Berghaus, TRAIL RUNNING!!!! No way they’re for walking and back packing not running, BUT be surprised, Berghaus are on the trails and looking for results. I spent 3 months studying manufacturers and equipment with regard to performance and weight ratio for my race in January of this year – The Spine. I quite often saw the Berghaus logo, but always scrolled pass it as assumed they were for backpackers. I got pretty anal about it and managed to get my kit weight down to 6.1Kg if I’d looked at the R&D Berghaus had been undertaking and considered their new lightweight range performance equipment, I could have saved myself 274 Grams. It doesn’t sound a lot but when you’re going to be racing 268 miles in harsh conditions every gram counts. I digress, the itinerary for the day was full on and started at 10 am with talks from Berghaus (trail team, company and product related), TORQ (Fuelling, Hydration and Recovery Information) A talk from Berghaus Ambassdors, , a short talk from ultra runner Stuart Mills (yeah right) and followed by a run at the end of the day around Hampstead Heath.

Last week the selection weekend had been up in Helvellyn…. And there was a lot of activity on social media of hills and views. I love hills, mountains, scenery and trails. There was a lot of banter my way that I wouldn’t find any of that in London. Well you’re wrong, I found hills and scenery….. It was such a beautiful morning that I rocked up at 7.30am on Hampstead Heath and put in a 2 hour hill session (circa 2300ft of ascent) and I got some great views over the London skyline… (OK, Ok, I had to run up Parliament Hill a few times to achieve it but that’s what hill repeats are for, right? J) – I pity the poor people sitting next to me throughout the talks.

Oh yeah and a real newie for me, I was quite happily running over the heath when a 100 or so sprinters came charging at me…. So that’s what Park Run’s about!!!! ………………

The Berghaus product talk was for me an interesting insight into new developments and it was refreshing to hear about their ethos towards everyday runners / adventurers.

Next up was Martin from TORQ – I moved over to using TORQ a year ago and now use the fuelling and recovery systems for training and racing and I’ve seen such an improvement in my running and recovery times – I won’t harp on about the products as all my racing blogs refer to their products, so if you want to know how effective these systems are, please read the race reports.

Its’ still always informative to listen about the TORQ products as you always find something new that you hadn’t taken in previously. To be totally honest everyone, forget TORQ use other products as it will keep my competitive advantage over you.

A short break was followed by an absolutely riveting talk from Berghaus Ambassdors, David and Katherine who talked about their awesome 5000 mile adventure(@5000mileproject) , during which they ran the length of South America. This talk had me captured from start to finish and it was so enlightening to hear and see their enthusiasm. I reckon they could have talked all day without anyone getting bored – This in simple terms inspired me and I came away pondering on a plan.

Last but not least, Stuart Millswas up to provide the group with his valuable lessons on mind control. A short presentation – yeah right, nothing short when Stu’s around…. I’ve known Ultra Stu for awhile and he’s a top class talker. It is always great to hear him speak on his views and I’m always picking pointers up to enhance my running performance from his talks.

AND YES, finally a run, my legs were in overdrive, I’d been fidgeting all day and was looking forward to getting out for a recovery run and talking to some like minded runners. It’s just soooooo nice to run with people, especially, when like me, you do all my training alone. This is where I find people talk about anything to anyone and what more than a better way to finish a great day running around the heath in glorious sunshine talking to new friends, with everyone having one final thought …….. Will it be me, I hope it’s me who gets picked – NICE J

What did I get from the day? I met some awesome people, I had FUN, I learnt that Berghaus are not just for backpackers, that TORQ are the only way to go (Ok I already knew that – it was re-affirmed), that Lenser head torches are way bright , that “mind” matters and I need to do something BIG.

A HUGE thanks to Simon and his team for organising this and reaching out to people of all abilities, I think that’s what the running community is all about.